A Healthy Mouth For Fresher Breath, Courtesy of Mike Allen Dental in Burton
Keeping your mouth gum disease free is key to sweeter breath.
Nobody like to be told that their breath smells. Most people regularly brush their teeth and would consider themselves to take good care of their teeth. So, when someone close tells you that you have bad breath, it can come as quite a shock. In many cases, it can actually take some time before someone even has the courage to tell you this, meaning that people may have noticed this for some time. If you have even noticed people inching away from you when talking to you, you now know why!
Getting rid of bad breath
Having been given this potentially devastating piece of news, most people will take action straight away. The two most common things that people do is to eliminate garlic and other ‘offenders’ from their diet and possibly buy a breath freshener spray.
Whilst it is true that garlic and some other foodstuffs can affect your breath, this is usually a temporary effect and unlikely to make any long term difference. Breath sprays may help to relieve some of the worst effects, but this is simply masking a problem which may also have more serious implications for you.
Gum disease
In fact, a common cause of persistent bad breath is gum disease. This is especially so as it becomes more advanced. The good news is that it can be avoided with relative ease. Even once gum disease has been detected, it can usually be effectively treated, either simply through an improved cleaning regimen, or through professional dental treatment.
First steps
If you have bad breath caused by gum disease, there is a good chance that you have not visited a dentist for some time, and your first step should be to make an appointment with Mike Allen, our long standing Burton cosmetic dentist. An initial consultation will enable us to examine your teeth and gums and discuss lifestyle habits etc which may affect it.
If gum disease is diagnosed, then a number of things can happen to start to reverse the problem and keep it under control. First of all, any hardened bacteria attached to the teeth and gum line can be removed through a process known as a scale and polish. This may be done by our hygienist, but, in cases where the problem exists below the gum line, this may need the services of a specialist periodontist and an anaesthetic may also be needed.
Once your teeth have been professionally cleaned in this way, we always recommend that you pay regular visits to our hygienist. Not only will this enable us to monitor and clean your teeth again, should it be required, but our hygienist will also discuss with you, ways to improve how you clean your teeth, often adding interdental cleaning to the regime (80% of people don’t do this!). Lifestyle choices such as smoking and alcohol consumption will also be discussed to help you maintain a healthy mouth.
Once your teeth have been professionally cleaned, and with ongoing care, your breath should be much fresher.
If you are concerned about your breath, or any other dental issues, why not make an appointment with our Burton dentist, by calling Mike Allen’s Dental Practice on 01283 845345.